Corrupt Congress overlooked needs of poor, I ended party’s licence to loot: PM Modi

Raipur/Jagdalpur, Apr 8 (PTI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday hit out at the opposition Congress, saying it overlooked needs of the poor for decades since Independence and never understood their pain.

Addressing the BJP’s ‘Vijay Sankalp Sankhnad’ rally in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar district, which will go to polls on April 19, he also said the Congress’ manifesto for the Lok Sabha elections has the imprint of the Muslim League.

During the Congress regime, corruption had become the country’s identity, and the party thought it had a licence to loot, he said.

“Since Independence, the Congress overlooked needs of the poor for decades and never understood their pain,” the PM said.

“People said what will happen to the poor during the COVID-19 pandemic, but I said I will give free vaccine and ration to them,” he said, adding that “due to my government’s efforts, 25 crore people have risen above the poverty line.”

Speaking at the rally in Chhote Ambal village, held in support of BJP candidates Mahesh Kashyap (Bastar) and Bhojraj Nag (Kanker), Modi said it is the poor that suffers most due to corruption.

“Corruption destroys the rights of the poor. Before 2014, scams worth several lakh crore rupees were committed,” he said, adding that former PM Rajiv Gandhi himself had admitted just 15 paise out of every rupee allotted for development work reached the rightful beneficiary.

“Whose claws snatched the remaining 85 paise? Modi has cancelled this licence of loot of the Congress. The BJP government has sent Rs 34 lakh crore directly into the bank accounts of the beneficiaries in the last 10 years. Every rupee sent from Delhi has reached cent per cent to the poor,” Modi said.

Had the Congress been in power now and the 15 paise tradition continued, then Rs 28 lakh crore of this Rs 34 lakh crore would have been embezzled, the prime minister said.

He managed to cancel this licence to loot because the people gave him the power to do so, the PM asserted. Targeting the Congress over a statement of Chhattisgarh’s Leader of Opposition Charan Das Mahant, the PM said the opposition party started abusing him when he ended their loot.

But he was fully protected from such abuse because “crores of my countrymen, my mothers and sisters have become my ‘raksha kavach’ (protective shield)”, the PM said.

Since strict action is being taken against corruption carried out by the previous (Congress) government, including against those who duped the state’s youth, the opposition party’s leaders are saying that his head should be broken with sticks, Modi told the gathering.

“Modi is not afraid of such threats. For Modi, my India is my family. I am busy in saving my country and my family from being looted. I call ‘bhrastachar hatao’ (remove corruption) and they say ‘bhrastachari bachao’ (save the corrupt),” the PM said.

Modi said the Congress and other opposition parties were holding rallies to save the corrupt but they must understand that wrongdoers will go to jail no matter how much they threaten him. “This is Modi’s guarantee,” the prime minister said.

Slamming the Congress and other INDIA bloc constituents for declining the invite to the idol consecration of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, Modi said, “Ram Navami festival is not far away. This time people will have a glimpse of our Ram Lalla in Ayodhya in a grand temple not in a tent.”

He added it was natural for people of Chhattisgarh, the “nanihal” (birthplace of maternal grandparents) of Lord Ram, to be most happy on this dream (of a grand temple) being fulfilled after 500 years. “The Congress and INDIA bloc are very angry with the construction of Ram temple. The ‘royal family’ of Congress rejected the invitation for the consecration of Ram temple. The Congress leaders who considered this move wrong were expelled from the party. Those who attended were expelled from the party for six years,” Modi said.

It showed the Congress can go to any extent for appeasement, Modi said.

Modi highlighted the work his government had done for tribals in the past 10 years and said the segment was always the BJP’s priority. “The daughter of the tribal community is today the country’s President. It is BJP that has given Chhattisgarh a tribal chief minister. The BJP government has created a separate ministry and a separate budget for tribals,” Modi asserted.

Elections to 11 Lok Sabha seats in the state will be held in three phases on April 19, April 26 and May 7.

Bastar Lok Sabha is the lone constituency to go to polls in the first phase.